Improvement in body-preservers



D. L. HOLDEN.1

improvement in Body Preservers.

No. 123,697, Patented Feb. 13,192.

Witnes '5. I I111) ent or. 0mm.

UNITED STATES DANIEL L. HOLDEN, OF OOVINGTON, KENTUCKY.

IM PROVEMENT IN BODV-PRESERVERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 123,697, datedFebruary 13, 1872.

I, D. L. HoiDEN, of the cityof Oovington, in the county of Kenton andState of Kentucky,'have invented a certain new and usefulBody-Preserver, of which the following is a specification:

The usual modes of preserving bodies of deceased persons by actualcontact with ice, or by the application of breast-pans filled with ice,are expensive in the waste of ice; are troublesome by rendering itnecessary to reinvest the body before burial; and as by these processesthe ice can be applied only to certain parts of the body, thepreservation is very imperfect.

My invention consists in an air-tight doublewalled wooden box, intowhich the body may be placed in readiness for-burial; and by the use ofan absorbent, and the circulation of a constant stream of intensely-coldliquid through pipes or other conduits, which traverse the box withinand connect with an outside coolingreservoir filled with ice and salt orother refrigerants, the body can be kept in a perfect state ofpreservation for any desired length of time.

In the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, FigureI is an end elevation of the box, showing the cooler and its connectionswith the pipes traversing the box with in. Fig. II is a bottom View ofthe lid, showing one manner of locating the pipes within the box. Fig.III is a vertical cross-section of the preserver through the planeindicated by lines X X of Fig. IV, showing spaces between the doublewalls of the sides, lid, and bottom of the box. Fig. IV is a verticallongitudinal section of the preserver through the plane indicated bylines X X of Fig. III.

General Description.

Aisthebox, which, as before stated, is double walled, having theintervening space filled with charcoal, shavings, or any goodnon-conductor. B is the cooler, which supplies the liquid, and, for thepreservation of adult bodies, should contain about eight gallons, whilefor children it may be reduced to a three-gallon size. Three sizes-theabove extremes and one intermediate size-would best answer all ordinarypurposes. O is the discharge-cock, located at the bottom of the cooler,for the flow of the liquid into the inner pipes D D D, 850., through ahose or adjustable tube, F, which fits over the end of the pipe D andcock 0, so as to be detached whenever it is desirable to remove the lidor the cooler from the box. E is a cock at the other end of the. pipes DD D, &c., connecting also with the cooler by an. adjustable hose, F,

but at a point just below the surface of the liq-' uid instead of at thebottom of the cooler where the discharge-cock is located. G and G areadjustable transverse bars to hold the pipes in place, and also topermit of their removal for cleansing from any infection. Upon thebottom of the lid are the flanges H H H, &c., which fit into the openingin the box, and, while they hold the lid firmly in its proper place,serve to render the box tighter. On the outside of the box, with itsbulb'station'ed in the interior of the box and its index upon theexterior, is a thermometer, I, to indicate the temperature of thecorpse, which should not be higher than 40, where it would decay, andnot lower than 32, the freezing point. Suspended at one or moreconvenient points within the box is a small vessel, J, containingpumice-stone, coke, or any porous substance, which has been immersed insulphuric acid. This absorbs whatever aqueousvapors may arise within thebox, which would otherwise accumulate and freeze upon the pipes, thuscoating them with ice,

the double walls of the box, which, as above stated, are filled withsome good non-conductor.

To operate my invention, the reservoir, which may be entirely detachedfrom the box, is filled with a mixture of ice and salt in suchproportions as to cause a rapid liquefaction of the ice. The chemicalresult of combining ice and salt is an intensely-cold liquid, rangingfrom 30 to 32 below the freezing point. The corpse being shut within thebox, a communication between the cooler and the inside pipes is formedby means of the adjustable hose F and F. The cocks c, c, and E are thenopened, whereupon the liquid flowing through cock 0 and tube Fcirculates through the pipes within the box, and, absorbing the heat ofthe corpse, its temperature is raised accordingly, so that by the timeit has reached the other end of the pipes its temperature isconsiderably higher, and as a consequenceits specific gravity ismaterially lighter than when it left the cooler; hence it rises upthrough the hose F and re-enters the cooler in a constant stream at ahigher point than where it left. This stream will continue until theliquid withinthe cooler has assumed about an even temperature with thecorpse. It is then time to replenish the ice; but if the thermometerindicates a temperature within the box of 40 or lower it is unnecessaryto add the salt, as its only function 'is to produce a more intensedegree of cold by producing a more rapid liquefaction of the ice. Whennecessary to draw off the liquid, it may bestbe done through cock E andhose F by severing their connection with cocli c, it having first beenclosed.

I am aware that a similar process of cooling has been applied tobeer-vats and refrigerators; but

What I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-- 1. Abody-preserver, through which a current of cold liquid is conducted bymeans of a cooler and system of pipes, arranged substantially asdescribed.

2. The applicationto body-preservers of pumice-stone, coke, or anyporous substance, which has been previously immersed in sulphuric acid,soda, potash, or compounds thereof, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

3. The adjustable cross-bars G and G in connection with pipes D D D,850., in a body-preserver, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

4:. The hose or flexible tubing, when used as an adjustable conduitbetween the cooler and interior pipes of a body-preserver, substantiallyas and for the purpose specified.

5. The combination of discharge-cock 0,0001: 0, and cook E, when appliedto a body-preserver, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

D. L. HOLDEN.

Witnesses PHILIP M. SHUEY, J. Twonicr.

